Food?

m48goat · May 7, 2014

Just wondering what most of you pack for food when hunting for a couple days on the mountain? how do you guys keep it light but still enough food? Do you guys take dehydrated stuff like the Mountain House meals?

I mostly day hunt where I hike in early morning way before sunrise and come out at dark back to camp. This year I want to do more 2-3 day hunts in the mountain before coming back. Curious on what you guys take for food.

Goat

mickeymouseoutfitters · May 8, 2014

I like the mountain house meals, but they are kinda big for just one meal. So when I eat one, I will eat half just before I go to sleep and have the other half for breakfast. During the day I will take small bites of granola bars every few hours and always have a water bottle in my hand. When you do go back in for days, you have to expect not to eat enough. I always binge on carbs the two days prior. I have gone without food for a day or two, even with hard hiking. I felt week and rested more, but there is no way I could go without water for that long.
Every year it seems to be a new learning experience on what I can and can't do. Sucks getting older.

________________________________________
I'm not one for telling my grandson how big of turd I had to pinch off from having to eat so much meat. I want to give him the trophies that hang from my wall and tell him the unforgettable experience that came with each and every one.

Captain_coues · May 8, 2014

LAST EDITED ON May-08-14 AT 07:57AM (MST)[p]I try my best to keep it simple. I usually just do the sandwich thing. I take a whole loaf of bread and lunch meat with fixings in the ice chest. Just put maybe two or three in my pack and go. Most of my outings are weekend, so that works fine. I will throw in a few energy bars and maybe trail mix to snack on. Sports drinks are important too. That's when I camp at the truck and return at night.
On the way home, if I'm with a friend, we will stop at a nice sit-down restaurant.

ForkWest · May 8, 2014

LAST EDITED ON May-08-14 AT 07:54AM (MST)[p]This is what I take. It's tough to keep calories up and weigh down. I'm coming in at about 2600cal/day @ 1.25lbs and that's still running a bit of a deficit, but it works for me.

Should clarify, this is for hard backcountry miles up to 7 days in the wilderness, living out of my pack. Camping and hunting out of the truck is a whole different story.

m48goat · May 8, 2014

Thanks for the video ForkWest, gave me some good ideas. I need to pick some Mountain House meals and try them out and see what I like.

m48goat · May 8, 2014

Captain_coues i also do sandwiches when I day hunt or hunting close to my truck and have everything in a big ice chest.

Mickeymouse, what mountain house meals do you like?

dz · May 8, 2014

I have a bunch of questions that I have before I can answer your question. How far am I caring camp? Do I plan to keep everything with me all the time? How much water is in the area where I am going? Am I going solo or do I have to think about others? What is the temperature going to be? Cold takes more calories. To keep it simple I like to take a kipper snack or a Vienna sausage for each day I'm out. Also the small fire starter sticks work great to heat up them when it is really cold. Remove the wrapper and put it in a zip lock before you go. When I was young I thought I could bury them, then the next year I would find them exposed. Animals always dig them up. So pack them out. I do like treats when out in the back country and one of my favorite is to take an instant pudding and mix in some powder milk and put it in a zip lock. Up on the hill you add water and shake it up.

DZ

txhunter58 · May 8, 2014

bagels and peanut butter packs lots of calories

txhunter58

venor, ergo sum (I hunt, therefore I am)

sagebrush · May 8, 2014

Lots of choices for dehydrated food for breakfast and dinner. I can't survive on granola bars in the middle of the day. I saw a tv show with Nate Simmons a few years ago and his wife was making sandwiches for his week long backpack hunt for he and his camera man. Peanut butter, honey and bacon on whole wheat wrapped in aluminum foil. Light, tasty and lots of calories. You end up with a couple of balls of aluminum foil from each day hunting in the bottom of your pack on the way out. Way better than vienna sausages, granola or just toughing it out IMO.

m48goat · May 8, 2014

DZ, here are the answers to your questions,

I will be caring camp for about 3.5-4 miles. from there i will set up camp and hunt couple miles around there.so i will not keep everything on me. there is some water in the area if i needed it. temperature will be 80's to mid 90's.

Goat

m48goat · May 8, 2014

txhuntr, i like the bagel and peanut butter idea. that will work for me.

sagebrush, those peanut butter honey bacon sandwiches sound like it will also work for me. i will try that out as well

Goat

littlebighorn · May 8, 2014

LAST EDITED ON May-08-14 AT 09:43PM (MST)[p]When back packing I like mountain house for evening meals.
Unlike mickymouse, I can easily down a mountain house all by myself, after a long day of hiking/hunting. I like the beef stroganoff and lasagna the best, but most of them are pretty decent.
I mix granola cereal/powdered milk and just add water for breakfast. It's a little heavier than some things but hits the spot for me. Lunch is usually jerky, granola bars or even candy bars or sometimes trail mix, depending on where I am going and how light I want to be. I always take some powdered gatorade for water.

dz · May 9, 2014

I can carry a bunch for 3.5-4 miles so for me I wouldn't be going light on the food. You can pack a lot of food for 5 pounds. The water around is good but make sure you have a good filter or equivalent for treating water. Nuts are great source of calories. I like to take almonds, cashews, and MMs and make my own trail mix. I always pack 5 times as much as I eat. But for me hunting season is when I shed some weight. If I'm solo I take very little, if I have others to think of, I plan each meal. An Apple keeps well in a pack too. As hard as I like to go and temperatures as high as you say I would be worried about cramps and dehydration.
2 cents DZ

m48goat · May 9, 2014

littlebighorn, i completely forgot gatorade has that powdered stuff. thats another good idea. thanks!

EROCK1313 · May 9, 2014

LAST EDITED ON May-09-14 AT 06:11PM (MST)[p]I usually pack in and make a Base / Bivy Camp 3-7 miles (+) into the Back Country. I pack each Full Day's meals into 1 gallon Ziplock bags. I only take one bag with me when venturing out from my Base Camp. As a bonus: The bags can double as my trash bag or water collector etc.

Per Day Contents per Person........

BREAKFAST:
- Cliff or Protein Bar / G? Packet w/ caffeine

MORNING SNACK:
- String Cheese / Hard Salami or Beef Jerky

QUICK ENERGY:
- G? Packet

LUNCH:
- Jalape?o Bagel w/ Peanut Butter, Honey, Bacon

AFTERNOON SNACK:
- String Cheese / Hard Salami or Beef Jerky

EVENING SNACK:
- Cliff Bar / GU

DINNER:
- Mtn. House Etc.

DRINK:
- Water and Gatorade Powder ( Mixed in H20 Bladder throughout the day)

This allotment / combination of food, is pretty light weight and manages to get me from about 1hr or so before sunlight to approximately 10-11pm at night without feeling "Starved." It may vary with added fruits, veggies or nuts that don't parish easily or an added Kippered Snack etc.

The biggest thing in my opinion though, is constant hydration!! Drinking small sips often is better than big gulps infrequently.

This is what seems to work for me at 190 lbs @ 6'1" and I still come out of my trip 15-20 lbs lighter - Ha!

?-ERock-> ?